Nick Cunningham, brilliant interviewer and reporter for the trade magazine BusinessDocEurope, has made an interview with artistic director of IDFA Orwa Nyrabia, who as usual talks clear and precise about the situation for documentaries in these times of lockdown. I have picked only a couple of quotes so please read it all, click the link below.

“A thousand persons watching the film at home over a week are not equal to a thousand persons in a cinema watching the same film… To me, watching a good film in a good cinema with other humans is a privilege, a valuable expression of our human civilization… It is a noble experience that I still want to defend within a civilization that is, otherwise, not much to brag about.”

Nyrabia’s concerns lie more with the filmmakers whose new documentaries are being met with a mute response within the virtual ether. “Overall, the on-demand approach to an online festival offer was very difficult to experience for a filmmaker who has been working on a film for years and hoping to be there and feel, see, smell and hear the audience watching their film. During a pandemic, a festival cannot have the full answer to that. A festival can either take place, not take place, or find the statement it wants to make within the context – and the means and technology to make it.”

… ” Film does not exist on its own in the can (or the hard drive). Film exists when it is on a screen with an audience. That other thing we see alone on a smaller screen is something else. It is better than nothing for sure, but it is not a replacement.”

https://businessdoceurope.com/orwa-nyrabia-on-the-return-to-live-for-the-sake-of-filmmakers-and-audiences/?fbclid=IwAR2gZ15voEo-FGiucIvtAWgyC3cUzUvbVGOqoUiYScpdlGMxE_ssLhekkBY

The first Italian online festival to draw to a close inside a cinema

Biografilm celebrates both the reopening of cinemas in Italy and the winning films of the 2020 edition, which, for the first time, was accessible for free online nationwide in Italy. The festival welcomed a large audience: over 45,000 reservations in the Biografilm Hera Theatre virtual cinema.

“The joy of being back inside the cinema and meeting others in person is enormous, but I am also delighted about the festival’s virtual participation” says the director Leena Pasanen, “our decision to move online was rewarded by an audience who has actively followed our programme, showing their enthusiastic support on social media too. For next year we will carry on working to ensure the possibility of access to the festival for those who cannot come to Bologna. Our industry event for film professionals, Bio to B, also saw an astonishing turnout, with 150 accredited guests able to connect from home from all over the world.”

Biografilm Festival returned to the cinema in time for the Awards Ceremony,

 

on Monday 15 June. The winning films were announced at the Pop Up Cinema Medica Palace, Bologna, followed by a screening of the film Gli anni che cantano by Filippo Vendemmiati, introduced by the director, the protagonist Janna Carioli and the producer Mauro Sarti. A World Premiere in the Biografilm Art & Music section this year, produced with the support of the Emilia-Romagna Region, the film traces the history of “Il Canzoniere delle Lame”, a Bologna band that play political music with a strong social conscience. The film was chosen for the evening for its cultural poignancy, recalling a collective and uniting artistic and civil experience, born in Bologna and grown internationally.

Biografilm Festival takes place with the contribution of the Department of Culture and Landscape of the Emilia-Romagna Region and with the Main Partnership of Unipol Group.

The jury of the International Competition of Biografilm 2020, composed by Luca Ragazzi (director and film critic), Shelly Silver (artist working in still and moving image) and Martijn te Pas (festival programmer and documentary consultant), assigned the following awards:

Best Film Unipol Award | Biografilm Festival 2020, awarded by the jury to the best film of the International Competition

WALCHENSEE FOREVER by Janna Ji Wonders

Hera “Nuovi Talenti” Award | Biografilm Festival 2020, awarded by the jury to the best first feature of the International Competition

THE EARTH IS BLUE AS AN ORANGE (ZEMLIA BLAKYTNA NIBY APEL’SYN) by Iryna Tsilyk

Special Mention – Hera “Nuovi Talenti” | Biografilm Festival 2020

NOODLE KID (LA YI WAN MIAN) by Huo Ning

WAKE UP ON MARS (RÉVEIL SUR MARS) by Dea Gjinovci

The jury of the Biografilm Italia Competition, composed by Roberta Mattei (cinema and theatre actor) Cristina Rajola (documentary producer and expert in international co-productions) and Ester Sparatore (artist and documentary filmmaker), assigned the following awards:

Best Film Award | Biografilm Italia 2020, awarded by the jury to the best film of the Biografilm Italia Competition

OUR ROAD (LA NOSTRA STRADA) by Pierfrancesco Li Donni

Special Mention | Biografilm Italia 2020

IN A FUTURE APRIL (IN UN FUTURO APRILE) by Francesco Costabile e Federico Savonitto

The Audience Award | Biografilm Festival 2020, the best film as voted by the public of Biografilm Festival 2020, went to: 

SELF PORTRAIT (SELVPORTRETT) by Katja Hogset, Margreth Olin, Espen Wallin

Go to the website to check the Indsustry awards: 

https://www.biografilm.it/en/

16th edition, June 5-15, with Finnish Leena Pasanen as the new director for a festival that has the subtitle ”International Celebration of Lives”. There is an international competition with 12 films (with films like Danish „It Takes a Family” by Susanne Kovács, ”Sing me a Song” by Thomas Balmes, ”The Earth is Blue as an Orange” by Iryna Tsilyk from Ukraine – and two Italian films that I have seen:

”Faith” by Valentina Pedicini, the opening film, a strong card to play by the new director; the film won the main award at DocsBarcelona, I saw it at IDFA and remembered ”the former Zelig student, who actually prepared the film, when she was in the school in Bolzano. She made a short film at that time, 11 years ago. “I was young at that time, 11 years later I felt mature enough to go deeper, stay longer at the place-“. And she did together with cameraperson Bastian Esser and his assistent Lucia Alessi – both of them also Zelig students…”. And I – teaching at the school – remember the three talents very well.

The other Italian film in competition is Francesco Cannavà’s “Because of my Body”, first film, produced by experienced Raffaele Brunetti, a film made with respect and care with two amazing characters. No need to give an annotation, as the one from the festival website is precise: “Because of a serious motor disability, Claudia cannot move without being helped by her mother. At the age of 20 she is still a virgin and wonders what sexual pleasure could possibly be like. But one day Marco, a Love Giver, comes into her life. Marco has just attended the first course to help disabled people to discover their own bodies and sexuality, an unprecedented event, on the margins of legality. Supported by a team of specialists, Claudia and Marco embark on a series of meetings which become ever more intimate. However, the project is subject to protocol which includes a rule that is difficult to enforce: never fall in love.” 

Yes, the meetings become “ever more intimate”, sometimes challenging my modesty but it’s never flat, it is gentle and beautiful – show me my clitoris, one scene, painting the body, blue for what you don’t find appealing, another scene, red for sexually appealing, she drives her car in a fantastic scene that conveys her joy on her way to Marco, who more and more becomes “the one and only”. It’s not easy – the mother suffers, Claudia suffers as does Marco in a film full of life and fine moments.

There are 8 more Italian films being presented – in an Italian competition. I will be back with comments on a couple more.

https://www.biografilm.it/en/

… and Fipresci Award

Having watched all the competitive films the International Documentary Jury of the 60th Krakow Film Festival consisting of: Łukasz Żal – chairman (Poland), Renata Santoro (Italy), Tod Lending (USA), Eva Mulvad (Denmark), Martin Horyna (Czech Republic) has decided to award the following prizes:

THE GOLDEN HORN for the director of the best film – Radu Ciorniciuc for Acasa, My Home (Romania, Finland, Germany)

‘Acasa, My Home’, is awarded the The Golden Horn for its remarkable and complex storytelling that is presented from the children’s perspective of a Roma family. This extraordinarily intimate and authentic film artfully captures the multiple layers of the social, emotional and political realities the family wrestles with as they struggle to maintain their way of life, dignity, sense of self-determination and cultural identity. It is highly unusual when a single documentary film, such as this one, is able to successfully examine and explore so many important aspects of the human condition within one beautifully crafted story. 

THE SILVER HORN for the director of the film with high artistic value – Maciej Cuske for The Whale from Lorino (Poland)

‘The Whale of Lorino’ is awarded The Silver Horn for its immersive experience where metaphorical imagery and sound let us plunge into the reality of a native Siberian village located in a distant, forgotten corner of Russia. The film at times makes us uncomfortable and disturbed, while at other times we feel deeply connected. The director uses a circular narrative structure that challenges the audience to interpret their experience of the community and confront their own prejudices. In the end, this extraordinary film beautifully captures the cultural relationship between man and the environment, and paradoxically shows us that the men who hunt endangered whales for subsistence, are also living lives that are on the edge of extinction. 

THE SILVER HORN for the director of the film on social issues – Mehrdad Oskouei for Sunless Shadows (Iran, Norway)

‘Sunless Shadows’ is awarded the Silver Horn for being an outstanding cinematic piece of work on an important social issue. With precision, authenticity, sensitivity and creative elegance the director presents dramatic stories of domestic violence, hidden traumas, and the collective responsibility of a patriarchal society for the crimes committed by its young female individuals who are in prison for having committed murder. As great art often finds a way to combine the laughter and the tears, we find ourselves both crying and laughing in the company of these remarkable girls who courageously face death sentences while living in an Iranian prison. 

SPECIAL MENTION for Hey! Teachers! directed by Yulia Vishnevets (Russia)

For the richness of a multi-faceted story set in a seemingly ordinary backdrop, and for the insightful, bitterly ironical take on how the Russian public education system can sometimes break down the idealism of certain teachers whose altruistic goal is to educate and improve the lives of their students. 

The FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics) Jury consisting of: Jan Storø (Norway), Jihane Bougrine (Maroko), Nachum Mochiach (Israel) has decided to award the International Film Critics Prize to Margreth Olin, Katja Hogset, Espen Wallin for The Self Portrait (Norway)

‘The Self Portrait’ is the kind of movies that hits you from the beginning and stays with you. It’s a perfect example of real-life cinema boasting both authenticity and aesthetic vision. Heart-breaking and relevant, both brave and emotional, it is a powerful documentary about illness and art where photography can change our vision of life.

The Krakow Film Festival recommendation to the European Film Award in a documentary category: 
The Self Portrait, dir. Margreth Olin, Katja Hogset, Espen Wallin (Norway) that also got the AUDIENCE AWARD.
Punta Sacra, dir. Francesca Mazzoleni (Italy)

More awards read

https://www.krakowfilmfestival.pl/en/60th-kff/awards/

I have been brought back to thinking about the different ways films start, while watching the Krakow FF international competition of this year. I think we all agree about the importance of catching the attention of the audience from the very start. Hook the viewers, so they stay for the duration of the story. Some starts are very short before the title appears on the screen, some are long, some give a promise, some set the tone and the atmosphere, some try to do all of it, some put up some questions that might or might not be answered. 

Some editors have told me that they often wait with doing the opening until the end. Having built a story or tried to, they suddenly – together with the director – “discover” the film and what is important and what not. Where do you want to take the audience? What do you want to say? Examples:

Norwegian “Self Portrait” uses a bit more than one minute to let you into the gripping story. You see a couple of photos of a woman from behind, a woman walking, who becomes “alive” walking across a field, turns around and looks at you; off screen she has told us that when a child, she decided to stop time as she is now able to do, when she takes pictures. The last photo is of herself, the anorectic Lene Maria. Credits come and we know, what the film will be about, the character, the theme, the tone.

In “Sunless Shadows” (Photo) Iranian director Mehrdad Oskouei’s voice is heard on a black background: Dear Sara, when you come into the room, sit down, push the red button and talk to the camera… she does and she talks about the murder, she has committed. Content of the film is thus revealed and the director’s and the director’s involvement and method and stylistical approach.

In Romanian “Acasa, My Home” by Radu Ciorniciucthe opening describes a paradise for kids – they swim in the lake, they fish, they have boys’ fights, they enjoy life in the nature. Until they are interrupted. The director states upfront with whom he places his sympathy.

Polish Maciej Cuske – in The Whale from Lorino – opens with wild images of sea waves smashing against rocks somewhere in the world. The images are matched with words of a fairy tale about whale and man. An opening that makes the promise of a film with poetic moments.

Openings… I am totally indoctrinated by words of Niels Pagh Andersen, Danish editor, mostly famous for his work on Oppenheimer’s «Act of Killing» and «Look of Silence»: Hold Back information, give the necessary input upfront, but don’t pour a lot of information into the head of the poor viewer. Build it up, step by step, give the viewer a chance to take part, remember that the film is made in the head of the viewer, remember that one viewer interprets in one way, another in another way!

That is what a good documentary can do – by good I mean documentaries that have many layers, many openings, to use that word again, for interpretation. 

And from a previous Krakow festival: Is Piotr Stasik’s New York film a film about New York. Absolutely. Is it about «la condition humaine », our existence, loneliness, a philosophical work, is it about Love, Yes to all, it has many layers, a film that will be watched and evaluated differently depending on age and sex. And where you are in your own life. I go to visit family in New York every second year, I have observed people in the underground as Stasik is doing, it’s fascinating but I know it so well that I can go to the other levels: Life as we live it, together or alone. And as a film buff who wants to be surprised, I enjoy the sound and rythm that the director gives me. It’s new and innovative.

60th edition! Wow! And then you have to go online! Instead of having all of us invited passionate film lovers sit and applaud one of the most important documentary festivals ever.

A challenge for you but I am sure the festival will make that a success as well. I write „as well“ because I have visited the festival many times and always felt the good organisation and the generosity that meets you as a guest. Of course with a good program, retrospectives etc. Memories…

Actually, I dont remember the first time I was at the festival. But it could have 

been in 1987, where I was travelling for the Danish Film Board (now the Danish Film Institute) with two Danish film journalists. It was not long after the tragic crash of a LOT flight in May, where 183 died. We 3 were in general hesitant to fly – I still am – but arrived safe to Warsaw and took the train to Krakow. On the way back, however, we left Warsaw, circled around for an hour or so before we landed. In Warsaw! It was a LOT flight… Technical problems «they said». We waited, drank a lot of vodka and went with the same flight home. That it was the same flight, we were not informed before we landed.

Thanks to www.filmkommentaren.dk I can now easily follow some of the visits to the festival. Let me jump to 2011, where Krzysztof Gierat invited me to be part of the international jury that also included Marcin Koszalka, who (my proposal) at every little jury meeting served a different glass of Polish vodka on the condition that the jurors gave points to them. We did. 

I wrote several articles from the festival, that had Wojciech Staron as winner of the Golden Horn with “The Argentinian Lesson”. I already knew his “Siberian Lessons”, I am a big fan of “Brothers” and of his collaboration with Jerzy Sladkowski. At this year’s festival he is there as cameraman on “Bitter Love”. Pawel Kloc got the Silver Horn for “Phnom Penh Lullaby”. I remember that I was in doubt but luckily the other jury members insisted – and having seen the film many times and used it at film schools, I now see how unique a documentary it is.

The festival has always known how to honour the artists: 

In 2012 Helena Trestikova received the Dragon of Dragons honorary award, the one that of course also has been given to Marcel Lozinski, in 2016, who celebrated his 80th birthday recently. He is one of my true documentary heroes with “Anything can Happen” on the top five of my best documentaries ever. And I love the film Pawel, the son, made, “Father and Son”, knowing that Marcel also made his version! That’s another story.

One more jump to 2016, where I met young and younger filmmakers who was associated to the Wajda Film School (oh, I remember making a lecture at the school with Wajda himself and Marcel Lozinski on the front row…) 

The young ones… In 2016 Piotr Stasik had a new film. The innovative “21 x New York”. I was – as this year – part of a critic’s panel where all 6 members gave top points to Stasik’s work, but the jury decided for another film!

I had more luck in 2018, quote from the filmkommentaren text: “Sometimes it´s jackpot! I had voted for – in my post yesterday – four films and they were all awarded: Talal Derki for his “Of Fathers and Sons” (The Golden Horn and the Fipresci), Marta Prus for her “Over the Limit” (The Silver Horn, The Silver Hobby-Horse (National Competition), The Audience Award – and awards to her editor Adam Suzin, and to her producers Anna Kepinska and Maciej Kubicki), Pablo Aparo and Martin Benchimol for “El Espanto” (The Silver Horn for Best Medium Length Documentary) and Stephen Nomura Schible for “Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda” (Best film in the DocFilmMusic Competition and Student Jury’s Award).

Yes, Marta Prus deserved the recognition. I – and she, I guess – had hoped for awards at DocsBarcelona and Cinédoc Tbilisi, did not happen, I saw the film several times that year, held Q&A’s with her. What a talent she is!

Back to the festival and its atmosphere. Krzysztof Kopczyński, a very good friend for decades, who took me to Moscow with Stasik, Cuske, Sauter (I think) to meet Russian filmmakers in the Polish-Russian coproduction series and who is the director of the impressing film on Dybuk… and loves the good life. Krzysztof and I have been eating wonderfully at the old Jewish quarter of Krakow, Kazimierz. Next year again, please!

 … which leads me to Bartek Konopka and Piotr Rosolowski with their “Rabbit à la Berlin”, a fantastic work that their powerhouse of a producer Anna Wydra managed to bring for an Oscar nomination!

Innovation was a word I used above and that I use again to characterise Pawel Lozinski’s „You Have No Idea How Much I Love You“…

With a little twist, I hope I gave you an idea, why I love Polish Documentary Cinema! And the Krakow Film Festival!

Congratulations, dear friends: Kasia Wilk, Barbara Orlicz-Szczypula and Krzysztof Gierat and all the other brave birthday children in Krakow. 

Photo: From “Bitter Love” by Jerzy Sladkowski, camera Wojciech Staron, in the international competition of the Krakow FF 2020.